Stefanos Tsitsipas sports Swiss football star Alisha Lehmann's jersey during Monte-Carlo practice

World No. 3 Stefanos Tsitsipas was recently spotted practicing for his 2023 Monte-Carlo Masters title defense while wearing Swiss football star Alisha Lehmann's jersey.

Tsitsipas played with a shoulder injury at the BNP Paribas Open in Indian Wells in Match and wasn’t entirely in top form as he lost his first match to Jordan Thompson 7-6(0), 4-6, 7-6(5).

He then benefited from a first-round bye and Richard Gasquet's withdrawal before their scheduled match in Miami, before defeating qualifier Cristian Garin 6-3, 4-6, 6-4 in the Round of 32. However, his run was cut short in the next round by Russian Karen Khachanov, 7-6(4), 6-4.

After the disappointing end to the first hardcourt swing, the Greek is now preparing for the upcoming clay season. His first competition on the red dirt will be the Monte-Carlo Masters, which begins on April 8 and where he is the defending champion.

The World No. 3 shared a glimpse of his preparations on Instagram, where he was seen wearing the jersey of Aston Villa star footballer Alisha Lehmann.

"GETTING READY FOR THE GAME. THANK YOU @ALISHALEHMANN7," Tsitsipas wrote in the caption.

Stefanos Tsitsipas via Instagram stories.

Last month, Lehmann tried her hand at tennis and was seen hitting a tennis ball with a racquet in the Aston Villa changing room. It turns out the racquet was gifted by Stefanos Tsitsipas, with his signature engraved on it, making it likely that the Swiss sent him her jersey as a gesture of gratitude.

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"It’s frustrating to have something like this" - Stefanos Tsitsipas blames ATP rule for Indian Wells participation amidst injury

Stefanos Tsitsipas pictured at the 2023 Miami Open - Day 3.

Following his win over Cristian Garin at the Miami Open, Stefanos Tsitsipas spoke with Tennis Channel's Prakash Amritraj about an ATP rule that forced him to play in Indian Wells despite being injured.

According to him, if a player does not play any Masters 1000 tournaments, the ATP subtracts their best Masters performance from the previous year and deducts the points. He cited this as a reason for participating in Indian Wells and added that there were additional penalties and fines, which he did not want to incur.

"There is a rule in place in ATP that states that if you don’t play any Masters 1000, there are certain penalties such as, they take away your best Masters 1000 performance of last year and you can’t add points to that, which is pretty bad if you think about it," Tsitsipas said.

"I couldn't pull out, I had to play. Also, you get penalized and fined on top of that. It’s frustrating to have something like this on top of your injury and having to think about something like this too," he added.

The Monte-Carlo Masters was Tsitsipas' best performance at Masters 1000 events last year, as he defended his title in the event with a victory over Alejandro Davidovich Fokina in the final. This year, he will be joined by the likes of Daniil Medvedev, Novak Djokovic, Carlos Alcaraz and others at the tournament.